4.5 Stars
These Broken Stars was... phenomenal! I dove right into it because I heard some say it felt like Titanic in space, and I love Titanic! While the beginning does feel a bit like that, the rest of the book is something entirely different.
I feel like These Broken Stars is a recipe catered specifically for me. We have a star-crossed lovers thing going on, with two people from two different worlds. Combine that with space travel, other planets, alien lifeforms, and a heart-pounding romance, and you have one hell of a book!
This is a wilderness waiting to swallow me; I'd barely make a dent trying to fight it. There are no rules for me to learn, no points to be scored, no bluffs to be called. This is a hell I've never imagined. And I think I'm going to die here.
—Page 108
These Broken Stars has the best kind of romance: a slow-brewing, heart-stopping one. Although Lilac and Tarver are drawn to each other fairly early on, they know they're from different worlds and that they can't be together, so they push each other away. Then, over time, they slowly break down that barrier and let a relationship develop. It's really slow moving (but in a good way, for romance!) and then when it finally kicked in... OH MY GOD!!! Incredible! So insanely swoony. My heart actually may have melted. Tarver and Lilac are so adorable together! I love their sweet kissing scenes and the soft moments they share together. And in general, Tarver is just a hot sexy soldier.. delicious!
I'm not even close to the type of girl he'd want, just as I've been signaling at every opportunity that he's the last man in the galaxy I'd want to touch. The only difference is that I was wrong.
—Page 136
Honestly, not a whole lot goes on plot-wise for the middle part of the book. It does get a tad slow, but it was still enjoyable. Most of this part is Lilac and Tarver trekking through this other planet to get to the space ship's crash site. It's like a week-long trek so there's a lot of hiking, talking, bantering, etc. So in terms of action, not a lot happens, but I really enjoyed just listening to Lilac and Tarver interact. They're both such great characters and I love putting them together!
"Fifty thousand people on that ship, give or take. Three thousand of them soldiers. At least a dozen decorated war heroes. I looked at you."
—Page 262
I don't normally comment on the writing in books, but in These Broken Stars it was too brilliant to not mention! The words flowed off the page effortlessly and there were so many passages that I couldn't help but share! It may sound cheesy, but this book just felt beautiful as I was reading it.
I think the one thing I wasn't totally sold on was something that happens near the end: when Lilac dies and then comes back to life.. or is "copied"? I think the whole thing put me off because I didn't understand exactly what happened, and we still don't know. Is this person actually Lilac? It's hard to say, because her old body is still very much dead. It's sort of like a clone of Lilac. I guess you could say it's a "copied" body with Lilac's soul inside? But I don't know.. the whole thing was just so weird and I had a hard time coming to terms with it. Eventually I decided to try to forget that she died at all and just pretend that it never happened and that she's still very much alive.. lol.
Other than that minor complaint near the end, I absolutely adored this book! The romance was heartbreakingly good and I can't wait to spend more time with it in book 2!